Triumph Thunderbird Review

Overall Rating

Looks
Relaxed riding
Engine
Reliability

Seat
Brakes

Ive owned and ridden a Triumph Thunderbird from new in 2002 and have clocked up almost 20,000 miles. These have included daily commutes and touring in France and UK. I use my red and silver Thunderbird all year round and it has never spent a day under cover - I don't have a garage - and apart from badly pitted mirrors and to a much lesser extent the wheels - it looks like new. At the first service the neutral switch was replaced under warranty - nothing else has failed.

The main thing about the bike is the frame of mind it puts you in - relaxed but purposeful. The riding position is relaxed and comfortable (for 45 mins max because of almost unpadded seat) - I don't even feel like shouting at taxi drivers who try to kill me every day. Yet there is a reasonable amount of grunt from the 900ccs - especially with proper pipes (well it feels and sounds better with the noisy pipes anyway). I've had the thunderbird reading 130 on the clock - flat on the tank but being blown all over the place. I don't know how acurate the speedo is (obviously not very) but it needs to be in 5th gear to reach 130 - it won't go above 115 in 6th.

But it's no fun riding all day at those speeds - The Thunderbird is much more suited to poodling about at 50-70 along good A and B roads. You can scrape both footrests and it feels perfectly stable. (OK so the ground clearance is not in the R1 class.....) As long as you are not in 6th gear you never have to drop a gear for the quick flick overtake. It's perfect for this - admire the scenery, enjoy the bends, open up on the straight bits until you can't hold on any more - stop and have a fag after 50 miles, etc. Minor grumble - the brakes are just about OK for this type of riding.

I have used the bike for motorway runs of about 150 miles. If I sit at 80-90 (uncomfortable) it will leak a bit of oil from the air box - an oil leak! gives it that bit of extra authenticity. (If you wipe under the airbox after a lengthy 90mph dash the oil won't drip on the bike or ground.) The mpg also drops drastically at this sort of speed - usually the Thunderbird will do about 155-160 before reserve - at 80-90 it drops to about 120 or less. Anyway, if I find myself on the bike, in a hurry, on the motorway and needing to be somewhere, Im using the wrong form of transport - I should use the car/train/plane/bus or god forbid a BMW/PAN. The Thunderbird is for when you don't have to be anywhwere - you are just enjoying the ride.

With the noisy pipes you can pretend to be a bit of a hooligan - if you keep the revs at 5500 and above you can keep up with all the 600s (around town anyway) - but it is rubbish at wheelies (smell that clutch) - and the front break won't hold you for a rear wheel ring of fire. But you would buy a speed triple if you wanted to do that all the time.

The Thunderbird looks like a traditional roadster but underneath is reasonably modern - water cooled, monoshock rear suspension, etc. The only thing missing is fuel injection - If Triumph could fit that in somewhere and still maintain the styling they could make it meet emissions regulations and continue the model. The Thunderbird is superior to the Bonneville (including the Thruxton) in terms of performance and refinement - if not look and feel - which, after all, is most of what these bikes are all about.

(I am not an old bloke by the way!!)

Members' Comments ontriumphthunderbird's Review

• twaters on 6th Apr 2006

  I am an old bloke by the way and I love my Thunderbird. I have had it for three years and now have difficulty riding it because I have developed arthritis in my hip. I have the option of spending thousands on a Speedmaster (or Harley if desperate) or even more thousands on a hip operation. I'm having the operation! I also considered a BSA lightning for the nostalgia thingy but I thought about the oil on the floor and the constant maintenance so that also got the flick.